Subterranean check valve



Patented Dec. 16, 1930 UNITED STATES. PATENT "OF FICE' JOHN J. MQHLER,or :enoniA, in I NoIs', AssIeN'oR, BY inner AND1MESNE itssre v MENTS, TOV-WILMOH.MANUFACTUR?ING CORPORATION, or cnrcneo, ILLINOIS, A

CORPORATION OF 018 sunmnnnnivnnlv CHECK VALVE npplication'filed May;1929.; Serial is. 361,905.

My inventionrelates primarily to check valves used in connection Withunderground tanks in whichfluids, such as gasoline, are stored, thesetanks being connected to the pumps of various types for the Withdrawaland dispensing of the-contents, it being one of the requisites of theconnections for the pumps that a check valve be employed and located asnear to the tank itself as is practicable, the check valve acting topermit a flow of fluid fromthe tank to the pump but restrain a flow inthe reverse direction for the purpose of maintainingthe priming ofthepump. r It has been found that in the use of storage tanks forgasoline there isa constant and considerable condensation of waterwithin the tank and that this Water eventually rises to the bottom ofthe suction pipe to the pum and is drawn up and collectsaround the checV valvewhere, inextremely cold weather, the water freezes andprevents'the operation of the pump by cutting'off its supply of fluid,and in the use of the ordinary piping .and

s fittings, including check valves when this condition arises, it isnecessary to dig down anduncover the check valve, then open itand removethe ice,jthen close thevalve and .recover the piping, all of which is aneztpensive and exceedingly inconvenient operation, and in thosecaseswhere the piping'and the check valve are below a concrete or otherpavement, the difiiculties and expense of reaching the check valve. aregreatly magnified, and therefore it ;is one object of my invention toprovide a construction wherein should there be an accumulation of waterand consequent freezing, the working parts of the check valve may bereadily removedwithout disturbing J the pipeconnections and withoutdigging up or otherwise disturbing the pavement or the ground abovethelcheckv'alve.

i It frequently happens'that a particle of" dirt will lodge on the seatof the check ivalve and hold it partly open whereupon the fluid abovethe check' valve will flow back to the tank, the pumpipriming beinglost, again requiring digging down to the check valve and.

cleaning it and afterwards filling over .it

again where the ordinary types of piping and the filling: opening.

fittings are employed, therefore it is another object of my invention toprovide a construe..- tion wherein, withoutthe necessity for any diggingor disturbing of either the ground or the piping connections, the, discand seat of the check valve-maybe removed from above ground, cleaned, orrenewed, as occasion may require, and replace, in a comparaf tivelyshort space of timeto the end thatpractically no delay in theoperationofthe pump will be required, and the only expense involvedbeing for any parts, ifsuchare; necessary. 7 A

A further object of my invention is the pro; vision of a constructionwherein a clear andunobstructed passage may be provided from above theground to'the bottom of the suction pipe of the tank to the end thatshouldit be. required to either remove the contents from. the tank, orin thosecases where the tank contains gasoline and after an excessiveaccumu lation of water, to pump out the-water from, below the gasoline,the suction pipe ortube; from any suitable pump-may be'inserted to thebottom of the tank through the regular suction line, so that if aflexible connection or hose is usedto thepump', the operator may beassured that the suction end of this hose is at the bot-tom'of the tankand isnot coiled up within the tank as-would be the case if the suctionhose were merely inserted through Incarryinglout the objects listedabove, I; haveillustrated and will now describe a form, of devicesuitable for the purpose, .butI, do not limit myself to the precisedetails of con struction or arrangementof parts shown and to bepresently described, but reserve to myself 11 changes and modificationslwhich' may be made and which fallwithin the breadth cr scope oftheap'pended claims? V I i The novelty of my invention. willbe'herei-n:- after more fully set forth; and specifies. iy

pointed out in the claims. I

1 In the accompanying drawing: 7 Fig. 1 is a'sile' elevation ofoneformof" my device showing it attached to andforn ing a part ofthe'suct-ionline froma tank to a pump, a portionofthe tank'being shown;

' Fig.2 is a central se'ctfiQ lal side elevation of a slightly differentform of the device showing the outlet connection adjacent the topthereof instead of adjacent the bottom as in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional detail of the seat ring, and its gasketand seat.

The same numerals of reference are used to indicate identical parts inall the figures.

Describing those parts which are common to the ordinary pumping systemfrom a subterranean tank 4 represents the upper portion of one end of atank which is provided with a suction line 5, the latter extending to apoint a short distance above the bottom of the tank so that all ornearly all of its contents may be removed by the pump. The upper end ofthe suction line carries the check valve and the outlet from the checkvalve is through the pipe 6 which leads to the pump which is placed inany suitable location.

In constructing mychcck valve I provide an elongated housing 7 to thelower end of which the suction line 5 is connected while the outlet pipefrom the check valve is connected to a side port 8. In Fig. 1, this portis located near the bottom of the housing 7 and in Fig. 2 it is locatednear the top thereof in which the upper end of the housing 7 is closedby a removable plug 9, the latter being provided with a gasket 10 toproperly seal it against leakage.

Referring now to Figs. 2 and 3, I will describe the interiorconstruction of my device. In the lower portion of the housing 7 I forma seat 11 which is adapted to receive the seat ring 12 with which thedisc or the closure 13 cooperates, this disc being-provided with aguiding stem 14 which passes through and is guided in a spider 15 formedin the seat ring 12. The seat ring is provided with a gasket 16, which,when the device is properly assembled forms a tight joint between theseat ring 12 and a seat 11.

The lower end of a tube 17 rests upon the seat ring 12 and the upper endof this tube is engaged by an annular nut 18 which is screwed into theupper end of the housing 7, and is provided withinternal lugs forengagement with a suitable wrench so that the tube may be forceddownward to cause a proper engagement between the gasket 16 and the seat11.

The lower end of the valve guiding stem 14 is provided with a suitableextracting device such as a cotterpin 20, and the upper surface of thedisc or closure 13 carries a pair of arms 21 through the upper ends ofwhich a pin 22 is passed, and between which, and below the pin 22, atransverse pin 23 extends, this pin being carried by the tube 17.

Near the upper end of the tube17 a second pin 24 is mounted, and thispin serves as a means for engagement with a hook or other suitableextracting device when it is desired to remove the tube 17 and itsassociated parts from the housing 7.

As shown in Fig. 2, the tube 17 is provided with perforations 25 topermit fluid to pass from the inside to the outside of this tube intothe housing.

Assuming that the housing 7 is connected to the piping as shown in thedrawing and the interior parts are all in position as shown in Fig. 2,and that it is desired to remove the seat ring 12 and the closure disc13, either to clean or renew the valve or to remove water or otherobjectionable contents from the piping system, the operation of mydevice is as follows:

It is to be understood that the housing 7 is of suflicient length toproject upwardly from the ordinary point to which the check valve islocated to the ground surface and either project sli htly thereabove asshown in Fig. 1 or be mounted in some form of box with a readilyremovable cover so that the plug 9 may be easily reached and removed.After the removal of the plug 9 the proper wrench is inserted into thering 18 and this ring unscrewed and removed. By means of any suitablehook the operator engages the upper pin 24' and pulls upward on the tube17 whereupon the pin 23 comes in contact with the pin 22, and after theclosure disc 13 has been raised, the pin 20 comes in contact with thelower portion of the spider of the seat ring 12 and a further upwardmovement results in the extraction of the check valve and all of itsassembled parts from within the housing 7 and permits a free passagefrom the top of the housing 7 to the bottom of the suction pipe 5 withinthe tank.

It is to be noted that the check valve and its seat may be removed fromthe lower end of the tube 17 by removing the pin 23 so that either ofthe parts composing the check valve may be renewed if required orcleaned, after which the parts are replaced and the pin 23 replacedwhereon, by lowering the tube 17 into the housing 7, the seat ring 12 isengaged with its seat 11 and the upper ring 18 is screwed down upon theupper end of the tube to complete the mounting of the check valve withinthe housing, and the plug 9 re-engaged with the upper end of the housingwhen the whole device is again ready for operation, and it is to benoted in this connection that this removal, cleaning and replacing ofthe check valve may be easily and quickly accomplished withoutdisturbing the pipe connections or digging around them, and further thatthe whole removal and replacing operation may be performed in a veryshort time, thus permitting the system to be operated at higherefliciency with the least possible delay in remedying an undesirablecondition, such as leaking of the check valve or the formation of icearound it. i

In those cases where the ordinary check valve has been installed and itis desired to replace it with my check valve, the construction shown inFig. 1 might be preferred bepassage to the housing, an outlet passagefrom the housing, acheck valve between the two passages, and meansextending from the check valve to a point adjacent one end of thehousing and disengageably co-operating with the housing to exert adownward presfrom a point near the surface of the ground to a point neara tank, an inlet passage from the lower portion of the housing to thetank, an outlet passage from the housing, a seat between the twopassages, a seat ring adapted to be mounted in the seat, a closure fortheseat ring, a perforated tube removably mounted in the housing and forholding the seat ring in operating position, and means cooperatingbetween the tube and the closure whereby when the tube is moved inremoving it from the housing it will first raise the closure toopenposition and thenremove both the closure and the seat ring.

JOHN J. MOHLER.

sure to hold the check valve in position and when disengaged serving toremove the check valve from the housing.

2. In a subterranean check valve the combination of an elongated housingopen at both ends one of said ends forming an inlet passage, a lateraloutlet passage formed in said housing, a removable seat ring, a closurefor said seat rlngand forming therewlth a check valve, a seat within thehousing and between the inlet and outlet passage and adapted to receivethe seat ring, and means within the housing and extending from the seatring to a point adjacent the end of the housing opposite to the inletpassage and.

disengageably cooperating with the housing to exert a downward pressureto hold the seat ring in position andwhen disengaged said means alsoserving to remove the seat ring and its closure, and a closure for theend of the housing.

3. In a subterranean check valve the combination of an elongated housingextending from a point near the surface of the ground to a point near asubterranean tank, an inlet passage from the lower portion of thehousing and in line with its axis, a lateral outlet passage from thehousing, a seat in the lower portion of the housing, a check valve seatring adapted to seat therein, a closure forming a check valve with theseat ring, a tube within the housing and extending from the seat ringto. a point near the upper end thereof and for holding the seat ring inoperating position, removable means co-operating between the housing.and the tube for forcing the .tube downward, and means cooperatingbetween the tube and the check valve for removing the seat ring andclosure when the tube is released. 4. In a subterranean check valve thecombination of an elongated housing extending

